Down-separating apparatus.



PATENTED MAY 1, 1906.

W. H. ROBINSON. DOWN SEPARATING APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION FILED PEB.11. 1902.

HWEIVTO WITNESSES.- WM 0 ATTORNEY UN ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAMH. ROBINSON, OF STElNWAY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TOHIMSELF, AND W. M. HANES, OF WINSTON SALEM,

NORTH CAROLINA.

DOWN-SElARATING APPARATUS- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1, 1906.

Application filed February 11,1902. Serial No. 93,659.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. ROBINSON, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, and a resident of Steinway, borough of Queens, city of NewYork, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulDown-Separating Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This application relates to an apparatus for separating down fromcontour feathers.

The mixed down and contour feathers, as they are plucked from the birdor fowl, are after passing through a cleansing operation forced by anair-blast into a round chamber andcaused to circulate therein, duringwhich movement a separation has taken place, the larger of the contourfeathers escaping through one outlet, and the down, mixed with aquantity of small OI medium contour feathers, I assing through adifferent outlet.

N y invention con sists in certain featuresof construction, combinationsof devices, and arrangements of parts, all as will be more fullyhereinafter set forth, and particularly pointed out in the concludingclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a central vertical section ofan apparatus made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation, and Fig. 3 a plan, of the apparatus.

In the several views like parts are designated by like numerals ofreference.

The feathers may be blown into the separator through any convenient suply-pipe 1, which may descend alongside of the separator and commur icatewith the latter by means of an elbow .2 and a box 3, the walls of thelatter converging or contractir g and its top and bottom separating asthey approach the drum of the separator so as to match a vertical slitcut in the wall of the drum-and seen at Fig. 1. The box is arranged atam;- gent to the drum, as seen clearly at Fig. 3., so

that the mixture of air, down, and contour" feathers may be dischargedinto the. drum in a tan ential direction, so as to set up a rotary circuation of the mixture within the-drum.

The pri': cipal chamber of the separator comprises both a drum, which isdesignated as 4 and has a head or top 5, and also a hollow" cone orfunnel 6. The drum is cylindrical in form and vertically arranged andmay be sup-" ported in any suitable manner. ts open lower end is joineddirectly to the top of the funnel 6, which may be termed ataperingconnection between the drum and a discharge-pipe 7, which isconnected to the apex of the cone and through which the contour feathersare conveyed to a bin 7.

Extending downwardly into the chamber to a point nearly level with thebottom of the drum is arran ed a central vertical tube or hollow core 8,by which the down is collected and which affords a passage for the downout of the main chamber and into a vertical pipe or conductor 9, whichis erected upon the drumhead and with the lower portion of which thecollector 8 has a telescopic connec tion.

The collector 8 and conductor 9 may, if desired, be rigidly joined o.-formed in one piece, both being firmly fixed in place; but I prefer toadjust the collector 8 vertically, and to this end I provide means forlowering and raising the same and for sustaining it at differentelevations. Said adjusting means. may consist of a nurr ber ofwing-screws 10, passing" loosely through peiforations 11, made in theupper pa;t of the collector or tube 8 and tapped into the lower part ofthe pipe or stack 9. There may beprovided any desired number of verticalrows of holes 11, and the tube 8 may be adjusted to as many differentelevations as there are holes in each row. Handle-bars 12 may be securedto the inner Walls of the tube 8, so as to facilitate the adjustmentthereof, and the pipe 9 may be provided with a cap 13, which may bererroved at any tine so as to affo;d access to the handle-bars andwing-screws. If desired, the tube 8 may be lengthened and extendedfarther up into the pipe 9, and the well-known e uivalent of a singlevertical slot may be su stituted for each row of holes, so that a mereloosening of the wing-screws will enable the tube to be moved, thusavoiding the necessity of taking the screws out and reinsei ting them.

Near its upper endthe pipe 9 may open into any suitable conductor 14,through which the down may pass to a bin or other receptacle 14.

Although it is evident that any air which is forced into the chamberthrough the box 3 is desirab e not to permit the immediate vht of theair, but rather to confine it within the chamber for some time, so as toaflord the down and the contour feathers an interval in which to becomeseparated. This result is accom lishd by causing the air to travel arounthe drum many times between its ingress and egress, the rotary impulsebeing given to the air, as above'explained, by giving a tangentialdirection to the entering blast. As the inrush of the air-blast is continuous, the air within the chamber must eventually become forced outthrough the vents, and hence the air tends to swirl around the drum in aspiral path, or, in other words, it has a combined rotary and downwardmovement, the former being caused by the impact of the air-blast and thelatter being occasioned bythe necessity of reaching the vent 7, throughwhich a large proportion of the air finally escapes. It will also beunderstood that in passing from the cylindrical drum into the conductor7 the air will follow a course which is not only spiral, but alsocentripetal, owing to the convergence or con ical arrangement of thesides of the funnel 6. Thus the general movement of the air whileconfined within the chamber may be likened to the movement of a cyclone,the outer portions of the blast traveling at a high rate of s eed in airal and centripetal downward irection an the central or inner portionsof the air movin at a much less rapid rate, and hence being re ativelycalm.

The constantly-inrushing air has a churning effect upon the swirlingmixture of air, down, and contour feathers, whereby the separation ofthe contour feathers from the down is promoted. The down and saidfeathers become eventually separated .because of the cyclonic movementof the air, the effect of said movement upon the contour feathers beingunlike :its effect upon the down, so that said featherstake one coursein escapin from the chamber or shell, while the down ta es a differentcourse and passes out through a special conductor, the latterextendingto that point within the chamber where the down may be collected to thebest advantage. The effect of the cyclone upon the contour feathers isto cause them to fiy toward the walls of the chamber, this movementbeing due to the action 'of centrifugal force, to

. which the said feathers yield more readily than does the down, owingto their comparatively dense or hea. structure. As said feathers brushthe wal s of the chamber during their entire downward passage, they maybe considered as forming alayer or lining for the said walls, saidlining being com osed of large, medium, and small contour eathers. Theeffect of the cyclone uponthe fluffy down, however, is not so violent,and it does not tend to fly against the walls of the chamber, but ratherto float about in the more moderate current which immediately sur-'opposite to the air-supply rounds and underlies the core 8, said core,as above explained, bein made hollow and open at its lower end, said endthus forming a mouth for affording a'vent for the comparatively calmcentral air, and hence serving to collect the down held in suspension bysaid central body of air. Thus the separation of the down from thecontour feathers occurs partly because of the churning action of theairblast upon the swirling mixture'within the cyclone-chamber, partlybecause of the segregation of the comparatively dense contour featherswhich is caused by the operation of a centrifugal force, partly becausesaid feathers are forced to line the walls of the chamber in passingdown to the vent 7, whereby their segregation is preservednotwithstanding the continued presence of down in the chamber,

and'partly because of the existence of a collector in the midst of thedown which is suspended in the calmer central air and into which saidair may pass inde endentl-y of the yiolently-moving currents w "chstrike down through the conical outlet.

It will be understood thatitwould be disadvantageous to arrange eitherthe vent 7 or the mouth of the down-collector in such a relation to theblast-inlet that a ready egress would be offered to the air immediatelyupon entering the drum or before the separation of the down from thecontour feathers. Such a contingency is avoided by lacing the vent 7 atthe apex of the cone 6, ar removed from the air-inlet 3, and also byplacing the mouth of the collector at a lower level than or out of line.with said inlet, meansbeing also pro- IIO is of great value in this artis the centrally-ar- I ranged core of the cyclone-chamber for controling the movement of the air and directin it in a circular path orcourse. So far as this function of the device 8 is concerned it isimmaterial whether or not said de vice' also serves as a down-collector-or whetheror not it is of hollow construction. A great advantage issecured by the arrangement of said core boxS, inasmuch as the whirlingair, a t ough continually churned by the entering blast, is still forcedto continue in a circular course'and the separating action or effect ofthe cyclone is preserved. 1 v 1 I prefer to make the downcollector 8 adjustable, so that it may be set at the exact point where nothing exceptdown will be likely to enter its mouth. As will be gathered from theforegoing description, an adjustment of said collector to a high levelwould offer a more available vent for the air, and as a result therewould be some liabilit of a remature escape thereof-that is, the an won(1 get into the mouth of the collector before a thorou h separation ofthe down from the contour eathers had occurred, so that a quantity ofsmall and medium sized feathers would be ejected together with the down.On the other hand, if the mouth of the col lector should be adjusted totoo low a point and approach too closely to the apex of the cone thedown floating in the central portions of the apparatus would not findsuch a ready escape, and conse uently in tending downwardly toward theepressed mouth of the collector would be liable to et caught in theouter cyclone-belt, thereby ecoming remixed with the contour feathersand passing down therewith through the outlet 7, while a smaller uantityof down would of course be collecte .b the device 8 than would be thecase if the atter were adjusted to the proper height. From thesepremises it follows that by inspection of the down as it emerges fromthe apparatus into the bin the o erator is enabled to judge Whether ornot t e collector 8 needs readjustment, and if so, in What direction andto What extent. If contour feathers appear mingled among the downfeathers or down, he should lower the collector. On the other hand, ifhe perceives that the down is discharging too' scantily into the bin heshould raise the collector. By means of ordinary intelligence theoperator may after ac quiring a little experience adjust the collectorreadily to the required point, and of course it will be understood thatwhen it is once adjusted correctly frequent readjustment will not benecessary unless exceptional conditions should arise.

Many other variations may be resorted to in details of construction andarrangement Within the scope of the invention. It is not essential inall forms of the invention that the tube 8 telescope Within the pipe 9,as obviously the tube and pipe could be made in a single piece whichcould be adjusted vertically as a Whole. Nor is it essential in allforms of the invention that the down pass in an upward direction out ofthe drum so long as the mouth of the d0wn-collect0r is arran ed withinthe cyclone-chamber.

at I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is asfollows:

1. A down-separator consisting of a cyclone-chamber having both an inletfor an air-blast and an outlet for the contour feathers, and alsoprovided with a collector for thedown, said collector extending into theinterior of the cyclone-chamber in combination with a bin for theseparated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down;

said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from thecyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

2. A down-collector consisting of a cyclonechamber havin both an inletfor an air-blast and an outlet or the contour feathers, and alsoprovided with a collector for the down, said collector extending intothe interior of the cyclone-chamber and terminating about centrally ormidway between the. ends and sides thereof in combination with a bin forthe separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; saidbins being in closed communication with the outlet from thecyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

3. A down-separator consisting of a circular cyclone-chamber having bothan inlet for an air-blast and an outlet for the contour feathers, andhavin a hollow core which collects the down an conducts it out of thechamber in combination with a bin for the separated contour feathers anda separate bin for the down;.said bins being in closed communicationwith the outlet from the c clone-chamber and the central outlet for. t edown, respectively.

4. In a down-separator, a cyclone-chamber consisting of a drum joined tothe upper end of a downwardly-tapering cone, and a tubulardown-collector extending downwardly from the head of said drum into theinterior thereof in combination with a bin for the separated contourfeathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closedcommunication with the outlet from the cyclonechamber and the centraloutlet for the down, respectively.

5. In a down-separator, a cyclone-chamber consistin of a'drum and a coneand having a tubular the head of the drum toward the apex of the cone,and terminates between said head and said cone-apex in combination witha bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for thedown; said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from thecyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

6. In a down-separator, a cyclone-chamber having a tapering outlet forthe contour feathers, a core, and an outlet for the down in combinationwith a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separate bin for thedown; said bins bein in closed communication with the outlet om thecyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

7. In'a down-separator, a cyclone-chamber having a core and also havingan outlet for the down and an outlet for the contour feathers incombination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separatebin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with theoutlet from the cyown-collector which extends from clone-chamber and thecentral outlet for the down, res ectively.

- 8. In a own-se arator,-a cyclone-chamber having .a core and alsohaving an outlet for the down at said core in combination with a bin forthe separated contour feathers and a separate bin for the down; saidbins being in closed communication with the outlet from thecyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

9. In a down-se arator, a cyclone-chamber having a core an also havingan outlet for the down at said core, one portion of said chamber havinga conical formation in combination with a bin for the separated contourfeathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being in closedcommunication With the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the centraloutlet for the down, respectively.

10. -A down-separator comprising a cyclone-chamber and an adjustablevent in combination with a bin for the se arated contour feathers and aseparate bin or the down; said bins being in closed communication withthe outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down,respectively.

11. A down separator comprising a cyclone chamber, an outlet for thecontour feathers, a collector for the down, and means for effecting arelative adjustment between said outlet and said collector incombination with a bin-for the separated contour feathers and a separatebin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with theoutlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down,respectively.

12. A down separator comprising a cyclone-chamber, said chamberconsistlng of a drum and a cone joined thereto, and an adjustable outletfor the down in combination with a bin for the separated contourfeathers and a se arate bin for the down; said bins being in c osedcommunication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the centraloutlet for the down, respectively.

13. A, down-separator consistin clone-chamber having both air-blast andan outlet for the contour feathers, and also provided with an adjustablecollector for the down, said collector extending into the interior ofthe cyclone-chamber in combination with a bin for the separated contourfeathers and a' separate bin for the down; said bins being in closedcommunication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the centraloutlet for the down, respectively.

14. A down-collector consistin of a cyclone-chamber having both an in etfor an air-blast and an outlet for the contour feathers, and alsoprovided with an adjustable col lector for the down, said collectorextendin into the interior of the cyclone-chamber an terminating aboutcentrally or midway between the ends and sides thereof in combinaofanyan inlet for antion with a bin for the separated contour feathers andaseparate bin for the down; said bins being in closed communication withthe outlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down,respectively. j

15. A doWn-se arator consisting of a circular cyclone-cham er havingboth an inlet for an air-blast and an outlet for the contour feathers,and havin an endwise adjustable hollow core which co lects the down andconducts it out'of the chamber in combination with a bin for theseparated 'contour feathers and a separated bin for the down; said binsbeing in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamberand the central outlet for the down, respectively.

16. In a down-se arator, -a cyclone-chamber consisting of a rum and acone and havin an internally-arranged adjustable downco lector incombination with a bin for the separated contour feathers and a separatebin for the down; said bins being in closed communication with theoutlet from the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down,respectively.

17. In a downse arator, a cyclone-chamber consisting of a rum joined tothe up er end of a downWardly-taperin cone, an a vertically-adjustabletubular own-collector extending downwardly from the headof said druminto the interior thereof in combination with a bin for the separatedcontour feathers and a se arate bin for the down; said bins being in cosed communicatibn with-the outlet from the cyclone-chamber and thecentral.

outlet for the down, respectively.

18. In a, down-separator, the combination,

bin for thedown; said bins being inclosed' communicationwith the outletfrom the cyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, resectively.

20. A clone-chamber having a tapering outlet for the contour feathers, acore, an outlet for the down, and means for adjusting. thelast-mentioned outlet, in combination with a bin for the separatedcontour feathers and a separate bin for the down; said bins being inclosed communication with the outlet from the cyclone chamber and thecentral outlet for the down, respectively.

21. In a down-separator, the combination of drum 4, cone 6, tube 8, pipe9, and Wing? own-separator comprising a cyscrews in combination with abin for the separated contour feathers'and a separate bin for the down;said bins being in closed communication with the outlet from thecyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

22. In a down-separator, the combination of drum 4, cone 6, tube 8, pipe9, wing-screws 10, and perforations 11 in combination with a bin for these arated contour feathers and a separate bin fiir the down; said birisbeing in closed communication with the outlet from the cyclone-chamberand the central outlet for the down, respectively.

23. The combination of box 3, drum 4 having head 5, cone 6, pi e 9, cap13, tube 8, wing-screws 10, and pe orations 11 in combination with a binfor the separated contour feathers and a se arate bin for the down; saidbins being in c osed communication with the outlet from thecyclone-chamber and the central outlet for the down, respectively.

24. A down-separating apparatus com rising a cyclone-chamber having aninlet or a blast of air, feathers and down, and having an outlet for thecontour feathers, a bin in closed communication with said outlet, saidchamber having a tubular core which terminates at its lower end withinthe chamber, a

second bin, a closed conductor from said core to said bin, an openingbeing provided in said conductor to give access to said core, and acover for said opening.

25. A down separating apparatus com prising a cyclone-chamber having alower outlet for contour feathers; a bin in closed communication withsaid outlet; said chamber having an upper central collector for down;said collector being adjustable for height a conductor surmounting saidconductor, and provided at its upper end with an opening and a cover,and a pipe connected to said conductor; and a bin to which said pipeleads.

26. A down separating apparatus comrising a cyclone-drum, having aninlet for a blast of feathers and down, a bottom outlet for feathers, abin in closed communication with said outlet, a top outlet for down, asecond bin in closed communication with top outlet, a tubular centralcollector adjustable for height, an o ening being provided to giveaccess to said co lector for adjusting the same, and a cover providedfor closing said opening.

Signed at New York, in the State of New York, this 17th day of December,A. D. 1900.

WILLIAM H. ROBINSON. Witnesses:

JOHN A. GALVIN, THOMAS C. PATTERSON.

